It's the economy stupid

CNN's Money magazine proves that people don't know shit about economics. Their most recent poll, which is fundamentally flawed to begin with, shows that more people want a federal jobs program than a tax cut. It also shows that over 60% of people don't believe the tax cuts helped at all, which just goes to show you that income tax withholding is doing it's job in keeping the sheep people in the dark about just how much tax they are paying.

The reason their poll is fundamentally flawed is quite obvious. The choices assume that the results are mutually exclusive. That is, it is assumed from the outset that you can have either a tax cut, or an increase in jobs, but not both. If someone asks me if I want a job or a tax cut, I'm likely to say both, which means my answer would undoubtedly find it's way into the "doesn't know" column and be discounted.

Another question reads "If you had a choice between the 2003 tax cuts or reducing the federal deficit, which would you choose?" Again, I would choose both, but that isn't an answer. By offering only and either/or scenario, CNN/Money is either liberally biased in their thinking, or doesn't know anything about economics. It has long been proven that you can decrease tax rates, and increase tax revenue at the same time. However the pollsters chose to ignore that fact, and instead built an inherent bias into their line of questioning. Given that they are a magazine about money and economics, their continued display of economic ignorance is appalling. Anyone who subscribes to Money magazine is a fucking moron should seriously reconsider the value they're getting.

It is reminiscent of when CNN-Money took financial advice from singer, Billy Joel, quoting him as saying investors "have a good reason to be scared." This is in spite of admitting that he'd just "checked out of a substance abuse and psychiatric hospital after a 10-day stay" and "said he does not have that much exposure to stocks in his own portfolio and said he is generally distrustful of large corporations." CNN quoted Joel as saying: "I know how big business works. I don't trust it."

Sounds like a great guy to take financial advice from, eh?

UPDATE: Here's the full passage:

Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Billy Joel also weighed in with his opinion about the markets' recent volatility and the crisis of confidence in corporate America, telling CNNfn Friday that investors "have a good reason to be scared."

"It's not just the market fluctuation. It's also what's going on with these big companies," Joel said. "Everyone's got questions about this."

The 53-year-old crooner -- who late last month checked out of a substance abuse and psychiatric hospital after a 10-day stay -- said he does not have that much exposure to stocks in his own portfolio and said he is generally distrustful of large corporations.